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Meredith Cohn

Meredith

Meredith Cohn has been covering the health beat and other beats in Baltimore for more than two decades, and was previously at The Baltimore Sun. She's a native of Maryland and is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park. She began her career at the Hagerstown Morning Herald and also spent time as a business reporter at the Virginian-Pilot and a congressional reporter at States News Service in Washington. She writes about all aspects of health and medicine, from disease outbreaks to disease cures, as well as the business of health.

The latest from Meredith Cohn

The Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup, Md. on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.
The state’s troubled psychiatric hospital has a new issue: Legionella bacteria
The troubled Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center is the latest state building to test positive for Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaire's disease.
Photo collage shows close up of woman’s face in profile, her eyes look right. On right side of collage are a breast pump and baby bottle with a jury box seats in the background.
Parents of young children will be able to defer jury duty under new state law
Maryland's governor has signed a law allowing new mothers to be excused from jury duty for up to three years, making the policy uniform across the state.
A Mallard swims in pollen filled water along the eastern shoreline of the Patapsco River in Baltimore County.
Allergy season is in full swing in Maryland and about to get worse. Here’s how to cope.
Baltimore’s allergy season is here and it may big longer and worse for many of us.
The Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup, Md. on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.
State’s maximum-security psychiatric hospital gets failure warning
Clifton T. Perkins, the state-run maximum security hospital for those charged with crimes, was warned to improve or risk losing its accreditation.
Dr. Elizabeth Jaffee, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Hopkins trailblazer scrambles to protect cancer research as Trump cuts hit home
The world-class pancreatic cancer researcher at Johns Hopkins University had so-called indirect funds slashed by the federal government.
As state lawmakers deal with the next state budget, they know that more work may be left to come if Congress cuts federal funding for the Medicaid health insurance program to pay for federal tax cuts.
The $1B problem that everyone in Annapolis is worried about
The state spends a total of $16 billion on Medicaid, with $9 billion from federal sources — but cuts could be coming.
Dr. Mark T. Gladwin, pictured here at the UMB’s BioPark in Baltimore in January, is the dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine who said this week that federal funding cuts threatens work at the university to treat and cure maladies.
Have a disease and hoping for a cure? That’s now at risk with federal cuts, UMB scientists say
A group of University of Maryland, Baltimore researchers led by the dean of the school of medicine, say cuts to federal funding will hamper efforts to treat and cure diseases.
Employees of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stand in line to enter the Mary E. Switzer Memorial Building on April 02, 2025 in Washington, DC. Layoffs began earlier this week at the Health and Human Service Administration offices after it was announced last week that the Trump Administration plans to cut 10,000 jobs at HHS.
Nearly 3,000 jobs cut in Maryland after federal health agencies scale back
Mass layoffs at federal health agencies began this week, producing anxiety about workers, public health and economy.
The Maryland Department of Health is located in the Herbert R. O'Conor State Office Building at 201 W. Preston Street in Baltimore.
Vaccines, transgender health studies at risk as $300 million in federal cuts expected in Maryland
Another round of federal health grant cancelations threatens kids' vaccines and other medical research.
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 27: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services building is seen on March 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Department of Health and Human Services announced it is cutting 10,000 jobs and closing offices aimed at cutting $1.8 billion.
Maryland likely to bear brunt of 10,000 job cuts at federal health agency
The federal Department of Health and Human Services will lay off 10,000 people, on top of 10,000 jobs already lost, with Maryland likely to absorb the brunt of the cuts.
The Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore, both face new cuts to NIH grant funding
HHS cuts millions in grants to Hopkins and University of Maryland, Baltimore
Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore, both had NIH research grants terminated this month and more cuts are possible.
The Johns Hopkins Hospital in East Baltimore
Maryland hospital budgets appear to dodge federal cost cutting — for now
Maryland’s hospitals have, for now, dodged federal cost cutters, who axed a half dozen special programs around the country for not saving enough money.
The Jhpiego headquarters in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore. The organization began cutting jobs Thursday.
Johns Hopkins aid groups to lay off more than 2,000 amid Trump cuts
Jhpiego and the Center for Communication Programs, global aid groups affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, have begun layoffs and a reorganization as millions in federal funding from USAID is cut off.
More than 100 referrals have been sent to investigators inside the Maryland Department of Health, pictured here, and to a Medicaid fraud unit in the office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.
A woman stole from Maryland’s system to treat poor patients — again. This time, it was millions.
A Maryland woman pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicaid of millions for mental health services she never provided.
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - MARCH 01: Raynard Covarrubio fills a syringe with the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine at a vaccine clinic put on by Lubbock Public Health Department on March 1, 2025 in Lubbock, Texas. Cases of Measles are on the rise in West Texas as over 150 confirmed case have been seen with one confirmed death.
What you need to know to stay safe after measles case in Maryland
There was a measles case found in Maryland. Here is what we know about who was exposed and what to do.
The Jhpiego headquarters in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore, Md.
Johns Hopkins University president forecasts possible cuts after Trump directives
In a letter to campus, Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels appears to brace the campus for cuts.
PROVO, UT - APRIL 29: A nurse gives Michaella a measles, mumps and rubella virus vaccine made by Merck at the Utah County Health Department on April 29, 2019 in Provo, Utah. These were Michaella's first ever vaccinations. She asked that only her first name be used.
A child died from measles in Texas. How protected is Maryland from an outbreak?
With measles cases rising in Texas and the death of a child, public health officials are unsettled. But Maryland appears to have a good vaccination level for protection.
Emily Ariail preps DNA for protein purification in the lab at the Translational Tissue Engineering Center, adjacent to Johns Hopkins Hospital, on February 21, 2025.
Johns Hopkins bet big on federal funding. The losses could now be $200 million a year.
The Trump cost-cutting measures for health research would prompt layoffs, the Johns Hopkins University says.
Melissa McCarthy at The Reprieve, a residential treatment center in Carroll County that she and her business partner have been unable to open due to delays with the Maryland Department of Health.
Ready but unable to open: New treatment providers face hurdles in Maryland
The operators of The Reprieve are among many addiction and mental health treatment providers — both prospective and established — who have said delays in the state’s bureaucratic machinery are hindering their ability to help Marylanders in the midst of an overdose crisis.
Hospitals in Maryland are participating in a statewide program to keep costs in check, but some officials say the system needs updating to maintain access for patients.
Maryland hospitals agreed to cost controls. Now they say they need more money.
Hospitals say the system is on the verge of crisis, with access to care increasingly at stake.
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